Celestial Dawn
by kazlene
Summary: The journey of a young Celestia on her path to become the mare she is today
1. Lost

I winced slightly, cracking my eyes open ever so slightly. Such a little thing seemed to cause so much effort. My whole body felt like it had been lying here forever. Where was here? I couldn't open my eyes well enough to see yet. The air around me felt humid, but somehow stale. And even with my eyes remaining closed I got the impression, almost an instinct, that it was dark. The ground beneath me felt loose, but that didn't mean there were no sharp rocks poking themselves into my hide, leaving behind an echo of though shape. I tried to shift my body away from those rocks. Cracking sounds filled the air, the sound of a body that has not moved in a long time, but it felt good to me to move my body move. I hadn't gotten away from those pestering rocks but I was already waking up more. I could open my eyes more now, seemed like something had them crusted shut, some of the crusty substance fell into my right eye, irritating it. But I could at least see my surroundings now. I could see the loose brown dirt scattered with rocks in front of me, I could see a stony wall, moisture dripping down through crevices. It appeared to be a cave, dark and dank. I did not know where or if there was a light source but to my scattered mind it seemed too light for what seemed to be a cave. I blinked my eyes once more. The one eye at this point had ceased its hurting and though it was still a little blurry I now opened that eye too. I could see but a little more of my surroundings, and grunting I put effort into lifting my leaden head up from where I was lying.

With my head lifted up off the dusty dirt floor I could see I was indeed in what could be nothing other than a cave. Shaped in the rough form of an oval, though not exact, I would later remember it as an egg shape, I could see there was one side where the moisture formed into a small murky puddle and near the water appeared to be what was hopefully an exit. The break in the wall looked painfully thin, and the mare hoped it wouldn't just end abruptly. However not wanting to be stuck in a claustrophobically small cavern for however long the mare tested out her body, forcing herself to rise onto shaky legs. Her first try got her nowhere; she collapsed with a painful thump once she had almost risen to her full height. Her second try went better. She managed to stand but when she tried to move her gangly legs towards the thirst quenching water her hooves entangled and she ended up rolling into the puddle giving her a dusty bath on the way and lodging her horn into a small crevice to the side of the puddle. The mare's body, now in an uncomfortable position pulled with all its might to free her trapped horn from the rock imprisoning it. With her rump having already banged in to the water worn wall she focused on trying to twist her head side to side, until finally, with force to send her splashing onto her rump, her horn was liberated. Having tired herself out already the mare simply leaned down to drink from the now discolored water. A few strands of pale mane fell upon her forehead and into her eyes. Other than the clumps mud, her mane appeared to be a pale pink, almost mistakable for a white. The mare stood up, shaking herself off, dusty from her falls. She glanced backwards, looking for a glimpse of her body. Her coat seemed to also be pale, showing white underneath areas turned tan from her tumbles. At her sides appeared two downy white wings, one of which though was hanging limp, though the mare could feel any pain or difference from that left wing. She tried to move the wings and while the right wing obeyed her command the left continued to hang there loosely. Biting her lip, the mare wondered what had happened, not remembering any sort of injury… or actually anything.

Eyes now wide, the mare spun taking in as much about the cave as she could. She couldn't see any clues about who she was, where she came from , anything. The cave held nothing that she hadn't seen before. There was a small circle of disturbed dirt and rocks where she had been laying earlier and the small rolled over pathway of dirt, but no belongings, no foot prints, nothing that could have been from before she woke up was there. The mare took another look at herself the one wing still slightly flared, the other drooping. Ring of red rubbed raw skin around her front hooves, there were no clues. Even on her flank, where she somehow felt institutionally there should have been something, some sort of mark, was blank. The now frantic mare looked at the cracked exit of the small and growingly claustrophobic room. Maybe out there, wherever there was she could find an answer. Maybe someone, somepony, could help her. Heart thumping, the mare still hesitated, lifting one hoof in the air, but not taking the step forward. She didn't know what was out there. And what if… what if the crack just ended. What if there was no way out of here. Could she have ended up in here magically she wondered, thinking of the long and pointed horn on her own forehead. Gulping down her worries, the mare puts her hoof down solidly.

Leaning forwarded she peers into the darkened crack in the wall, unable to see anything. Even in her state the walls looked close together, as painfully thin as she had thought earlier. She took another step and then another before firmly putting down her hooves. She was half way into the thin tunnel. A few sharp stones grazed her sides but she seemed able to be able to make it without having to worrying about get stuck. And if she didn't do this she'd be stuck anyways, stuck in a small cave with no nourishment and next to no water. She had to continue forward, and she did.

The first sign of the light came from white moss growing close to the floor. It glowed a soft light, giving almost enough to see her hooves with and more than enough to see a clear pathway now. She leaned down to sniff the strange moss, and smelt a rather sharp but refreshing aroma, leaving her nose feeling clear along with her mind. In a more pleasant and more calm mood she continued along the steadily increasingly lit pathway, a small smile playing along her lips for a reason she could not discern. As the light grew to include the smooth walls of her pleasant path, she realized with slight glee and only a glimmer of worry that the light was coming from an exit from the somehow gloomy stone. She increased her pace to a trot, then a gallop when the light got even bright. As she rounded a corner a wave of light washed over her and she stood at the entrance, seeing the first of the sky that she could remember. All shades of pink, orange, red and yellow were paint across the vastness before her, getting brighter as they focused in wards upon a bright sliver of a ball of orange. The mare gasped with amazement. Compared to the drab cave she had just emerged from… she could barely take in the beauty of what was before her. Everything seemed so bright, as she stood there, her eyes half shut, she could feel the light ash over her, warming her body like a relaxing bath. The mare could feel the power radiating off the giant orb in the sky, despite its downward descent. It was rejuvenating, and though the mare couldn't see it the small scraps and forming bruises over her body were melting away into a mere memory, even the dust and mud fell from her coat, floating off into the wind off into the distance. There was no proof that this gleaming mare, standing in the setting sun, had just tumbled in.

As she stood there she became aware of a soft melody behind her, almost on top of her. In confusion she tore herself away from the view looking for the source of the noise. There, perched on a ledge above the fissure she had just emerged from she beheld with her shimmering eyes, was a creature that held all the colors and beauty of the setting sun she had just looked away from, the mare gaped at the spectacle. Seeing that it now had a captive audience the creature spread its wings and lifted its head into a regal pose as it reached the crescendo of its melody.


	2. Spark

The fiery bird closed its flickering wingspan against its heated body as the glowing orb slide out of sight in the darkening night sky. Already the warm glow was disappearing from the colorful sky palate, from warm red, oranges pinks and even blues and greys, to a duller palate of blues, blacks and just a few wispy grey clouds. Peering down her brilliant amber beak she turned to face the fresh faced mare, who was still facing the fading horizon, her feature highlighted with sunlight that had already disappeared into the deep cobalt sky, a sky that was steadily being highlighted with darkest navy blue. In this already darkening night the mare and the bird shone like the stars in the heavens.

As the last of the glorious and warming light faded away from the sky, the bird left its perch, sailing down upon the mare, whose only light was cast now by the wonderment in her eyes. The mare felt a warm breeze upon the nape of her neck as the bird flew by and then, as the bird decided to land, she felt a heat not unlike that from a warm fireplace upon a cold winter's night, as the fiery feathered creature landed upon her soft back. The mare, her head craned around to view the blazing bird, stared in was a look she had not ceased it seemed since she left her sheltered cave. It was a look of amazement and wonderment, the look a filly, her flank still blank, might look upon a new toy. But though her flank was blank the mare was no filly, and though she was still in awe of her surroundings, she wanted to do something, anything. From the moment she had left the dank and dreary hollow, and had set her eyes upon the fierce orb she would later call the sun, she had been filled with a spirited, red-hot energy. She wanted to run, to leap through the tall grass blades that made up the meadow at the base of her hill. To gallop through the twisting trees and their branches, grasping for their much need sunlight, in that wild, untamed forest that lay beyond the field of green. Tossing her head forward, sending locks of pink flowing man into the wind, the mare let out a joyous laugh, startling the stoic bird out of its state. The bird had lived many years and many lives in this land of ponies and such a noise, with such unbridled happiness behind it, was rare. The bird, already caught off guard by the slicing sound of laughter in the stifling quiet evening, was thrown from her backside with an indignant and undignified squawk, as the mysterious equine leapt forward. Powerful wings extended, the mare tilted downward towards the field. Along side her flew the bird, her curiosity piqued by the strange behavior.

Landing upon the grassy plain below her mountain, the mare twillred in the evening air, her laughter blowing in the wind. The grass, dry from drought, bent and snapped beneath her hooves but she did not notice, she had no cares in this world yet new to her. Dizzy, she collaspe upon the broken stems of grass, their sharp edges poking and proding her body, but she didnt care. Looking up towards the staarlight sky, now almost fully black, the mare noticed the shining beacon of the blazing fird, hovering above her.

The bird upon being noticed glided down, on to the dry cracked ground, maybe a mere foot or two from the mares muzzle. Beneath her talons the dirt became scorched and any near by grass went up in little poofs of flame, not spreading more then a inches away from the bird. The bird, whose attention was fully on the mare, and not the burning grass, cocked her head. other ponies she had encountered would never notice her, or at if they did they never acknowledge her as they toiled in their fields. Nor had the bird seen one before with both the wings of a bird and the horn of a magic user.

The mare reached a hoof out, towards the bird. the bird, still curious by the uniqueness of the pony in front of her, stiffened but held still. Not even the dragons would look upon a phoenix a source of food, what did she have to fear from a mere pony, however abnormal their appearence might be. A soft white hoof reached her wing, and hestitaed. Then the mare stroked her red wing, with the lightest touch. Again the bird wondered about this strange little pony, for she knew the affect even her tiniest feather had on living creatures. But this mare showed none of the pain, no screams, no hairs turning brown and black before they slowly crumble off. Her hoof remian the pristine white, as it was before.  
As the mare removed her hoof, the Phoenix spread her wings, giving a view of all her glory this mare that was seemingly unbothered by the heat of the fire in her wings. For a mare that just stroked fire without any harm upon her body the look of awe struck the bird as humorous, and she let out a squawk of laughter. The mare startled by the sharp and rather loud sound jump, upon realizing though what the sound that left the birds beak was the bird's laughter, joined in. Together the two of them filled the chilling night breeze with the sound of laughter, the pony's soft bell like laugh, and the birds sharp echo, and some how together the two sounds, both so different, harmonized together.  
Suddenly, from the north of the two new friends, from within the woods, came a a startlingly loud noise. From the forest came many birds, smaller then the Phoenix and unused the darkness of night, and under the frightened squawks, so different t from the laughter of her fiery feathered friend, came a low rumble.  
The Phoenix watched as her mare's pale purple eyes shot open and then narrowed. Her own bird laughter died and caught within her throat. It was known, even among the smallest woodland creature, that the the ruler, the tyrant, of this land used the once majestic dragons as enforcers for his rule. And even in the fire of that ran thick through her veins, the bird felt the chill that any creature did at that ever distinctive echoing roar that is issued forth from a dragon's maw.


End file.
